Saddened by attack, U.S. women’s volleyball team wins opener
by Dustin Dow on Aug. 09, 2008, under Sports
Heather Bown of the United States spikes a ball against Japan's Megumi Kurihara, left, and Erika Araki.
BEIJING — On a devastating day for United States volleyball, the American women’s team opened the Beijing Olympics with a victory Saturday night against Japan.
The four-set win came hours after Todd Bachman, father of former national team member Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, was killed in a stabbing incident at a downtown tourist site. Bachman’s mother, Barbara, was also injured in the incident, which ended with the assailant committing suicide.
The attack cast an emotional cloud over the match for the Americans.
“Nobody can understand or explain it,” said Heather Bown, a former University of Hawaii player. “Once we got it out of our minds for a little bit, we were able to focus and play volleyball.”
The Americans, ranked fourth in the world, were trying to beat No. 5 Japan for the third time this season, having defeated the Japanese team twice already in 2008 in five-set matches.
“We had a difficult situation, and we tried to tell our players to concentrate on the game,” said U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping after the 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21 victory. “It doesn’t matter what happened, the game goes on.”
Momentum swayed toward the Americans early in the first set when Bown converted a spike that restored the U.S. lead at 8-7. Later, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, a Honolulu native and former standout at Hawaii, hustled to get under a ball to set up Logan Tom for a kill that forced Japan to call timeout with the U.S. in front 15-12. But consecutive kills by Bown and another former Hawaii player, Kim Willoughby, extended the margin for the Americans to 17-12.
Bown wasn’t done. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker ran up the right side of the court and jumped for another spike that rebuilt a five-point advantage, 18-13. The Americans won the first set when Mow-Santos, playing in her third Olympics, set up Tayyiba Haneef-Park for a kill.
Japan never trailed during the second set. Even “USA, USA” chants from a smattering of American fans did little help the U.S. Midway through the set, Honolulu’s Lindsey Berg lofted a ball to Tom for a kill that brought the Americans to within 16-12. But Tom served into the net on the subsequent point.
Berg helped break open what was a close third set when she served out the set on a seven-point streak. Mow-Santos served out the final set, which ended on match point with a block by Bown. The victory set off the U.S. players into a series of prolonged hugging exchanges with each other, a cathartic exercise after the stunning day.
“Our heart goes out to them,” Mow-Santos said afterward, declining to comment further.
Players were awakened from a pre-match nap at 3:30 Saturday afternoon and informed about the attack that had occurred around noon. Bachman had e-mailed the team in the morning and told them her family, including her husband, U.S. men’s coach Hugh McCutcheon, would be there to watch them against Japan.
“I think they still were here in spirit,” said Bown, who was a teammate of Bachman at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “It’s so painful, and it’s a shame it had to happen. They came here to support us; they were some of the biggest fans we had.”
The Chinese fans, many of whom had watched the previous match between China and Venezuela, gave Lang Ping a rousing ovation when her name was announced before the match. Beijing is Lang Ping’s hometown, and she is an iconic figure in Chinese volleyball history, winning a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics as China’s coach and a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as a player for China.
“I think the support from all the fans from China helped tonight,” Lang Ping said.
Cuba is the next Pool A opponent for the United States, which plays again here Monday.
